Source: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty R. Kelly has been hit left and right with legal haymakers, most especially those related to his infamous dealings with young women and reports of sexual abuse. Now, federal authorities are on the hunt for more visual evidence of the troubled singer’s allegedly foul ways. TMZ reports : Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is interviewing parties closely associated with Kelly. We’re told prosecutors have been asking about the possible existence of VHS tapes purportedly showing Kelly having sex with minors. Rumors about an alleged stash of R. Kelly sex tapes have been floating around since Kelly went to trial on child porn charges back in 2008, but it’s never been found … not by law enforcement, anyway. As we’ve reported … the feds are building another case against Kelly in Illinois, which we’re told is entirely separate from the 2 probes currently underway in New York — one by the Eastern District and another by the Southern District. We’re told feds in Illinois are investigating Kelly on 3 different fronts: sex trafficking, tax evasion and obstruction of justice. Authorities are also looking into the possibility of obstruction of justice in Kelly’s 2008 sexual assault case where he was found not guilty. — Photo: Getty
Source: Mihajlo Maricic / EyeEm / Getty Family Of Justine Damond Reaches $20 Million Settlement With The City of Minneapolis A settlement has been reached in the tragic Justine Ruszczyk Damond case. According to NBC News , the family of the yoga teacher who was shot dead by a cop agreed to a $20 million settlement with the city of Minneapolis. The settlement occurred only three days after jurors convicted the former police officer, Mohamed Noor, of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 15, 2017 killing of Damond, who was a duel citizen of the U.S. and Australia. Back in 2017, Damond, 40, called 911 because she believed she heard a sexual assault happening in an alley near her place. However, when Noor and his partner Matthew Harrity pulled up to Damond’s home, they mistook her as a threat and Noor opened fire on her. Damond was unarmed. Meanwhile, evidence of a sexual assault was not found. Damond’s family filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city, an action that was put on hold depending on the result of the criminal trial. When Noor was convicted, settlement talks immediately began, according to City Council President Lisa Bender. “We know that no amount of money can heal the pain that the Ruszczyk family or any family that has lost a loved one in this way,” Bender said. “It is our continued commitment to work together, with our community, to demand and support change to policing.” On Friday, the city council voted unanimously to approve the settlement. The family has pledged $2 million to a local charity centered around gun violence in Minneapolis. “This is not a victory for anyone, but rather a way for our city to move forward,” Mayor Jacob Frey said. “And I do believe that we will move forward together, united in the shared belief that such a tragedy should never occur in our city.” Meanwhile, Noor, 33, faces up to 15 years in prison. He was taken into custody right after his verdict was read and he’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 7.
They say that love is a battlefield. On Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4 , however, the concept of love appeared to trump anything that happened on the battlefield… … and it was exceptionally weird. Following a succesful battle against the Night King, nearly everyone in Winterfell was in a celebratory mood on Sunday night. That’s fine and great and understandable and all. We’d down a few pints of ale after defeating the army of the undead as well. But focus was shifted so strongly away from what Dany described as the “last war” still to come against Cersei that many of our heroes and heroines cared more about plotting their romantic gestures than plotting their next attack. This was no big deal when it involved poor Gendry (just made Lord of Storm’s End) proposing to Arya and the young Night Kingslayer responded by saying she’ll never be a Lady. However, it was a far bigger deal when it centered on Jaime and Brienne shedding both their armor and their clothing. These two have been through a lot together. There’s a very clear and strong bond there. But the show somehow couldn’t leave it alone, couldn’t just allow them to be respectful friends and battle partners. It had to give us a storyline in which Jaime got jealous of Tormund hitting on Brienne and therefore got drunk and followed her into her bedroom and the two had sex and then acted like a pair of totally smitten teenagers. Heck, totally middle middle schoolers, really. Because they were just so in love, Jaime and Brienne chose to stay behind in Winterfell, even after a plan was devised for two groups (one by boat and one by land) to storm King’s Landing and overthrow Cersei. Yes, Brienne (a proud knight who may be the best fighter in all of Westeros) and Jaime (who should want nothing more than to murder his sister and who isn’t a shabby fighter himself) stayed behind to hang out in bed all day. This changed, of course, after Sansa made a remark about Cersei eventually getting hanged and then Jaime broke Brienne’s heart by choosing to rush back and seemingly save his sister because he, too, is “hateful.” This reduced mighty Brienne of Tarth into a blubbering, crying mess and, just… WTF, Game of Thrones?!? But it got far worse and less sensical on two other fronts. First, Jon Snow proved that he was far better off when he knew nothing because he insisted on spilling the secret of his true identity to Sansa and Arya. He did this after Dany begged him not to because she wanted to be Queen and he didn’t — and it didn’t take a Tyrion-like mind to realize that Sansa would not just sit quietly on this information. Dany basically threatened her lover to take this secret to his grave or else they’d never live peacefully as a couple and she’d never reign peacefully as a monarch. Jon ignored her, however, and told Sansa and Arya everything. At least we assumed he did so — somehow, despite Jon’s heritage being THE main plot point right now, the series chose to cut away and not give us Arya and Sansa’s reaction to this bombshell. Dany did prove to be prophetic, though, when Sansa barely lasted one scene before telling Tyrion everything. This at least led to maybe our favorite scene of the episode, as Tyrion and Varys debated what the heck to do about it. Jon is the true heir to the Iron Throne. He is reasonable and popular and, as Varys astutely pointed out, perhaps the ideal ruler is someone who actually does not want to rule at all. But Tyrion remained steadfast in his opinion that Dany would make a great leader, despite her penchant for killing and her frightening talk earlier that it was her “destiny” to rid the world of tyrants. She seemed totally fine doing this by burning King’s Landing to the group and killing thousands of innocents in the process simply to dethrone Cersei. Thankfully, Tyrion convinced his Queen to at least try and strike a bargain; to offer to spare Cersei’s life in exchange for a quick surrender. Cut to the final, most confounding and both suspenseful and irritating scene of the episode. Cersei and her crew stood outside of the capitol’s gates and Tyrion delivered their terms. However, he did so while Cersei and her entourage held Missandei hostage. She was handcuffed and standing up high alongside Cersei and Euron (who has been told the child in Cersei’s belly belongs to him) and The Mountain. This development raised several questions, chief among them: How did the Golden Army capture Missandei, who Grey Worm had told to get on a skiff as soon as things turned violent when the Unsullied approached King’s Landing? How did the Golden Army even know who Missandei is? Was this scene really necessary? Let’s put aside the beef that many critics have, which is that a show lacking in diversity took a former slave and put her back in chains and then (SPOILER ALERT WE GUESS!) chopped her head off. Let’s just hone in on why this was even included in the episode … outside of the broader political/societal points one could make about Game of Thrones. Did we need yet another reminder that Cersei is a monster? Tyrion pleaded with his sister to surrender at one point because he claimed she was decided NOT this type of non-human being. But she has proven at every turn that she’s as monstrous as they come! She blew up the Sept of Baelor and killed like hundreds of people at once just a short while ago! The audience didn’t need to be told yet again that Cersei is the absolute worst. And Team Take This Bitch Down Forever shouldn’t have ever thought differently, either. It all felt unnecessary, akin to torture porn and a forced twist, orchestrated by the writers for full effect — when the past seven-plus seasons have already been more than enough to prepare us for Dany taking on Cersei and pursuing what she believes is rightfully hers. Whether Dany truly goes mad and goes all dracarys on King’s Landing is an intriguing cliffhanger. The closing shot of the Mother of Dragons in full-on motherf-cker mode was awesome. But the time spent on supposed romances this week – concluding with the pain of Grey Worm watching his girlfriend get executed – felt out of place, not wholly earned and often extraneous. Do you agree? What did you think overall?? Check out scenes below from Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5, which will allegedly be THE BEST THING EVER : Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 Preview: It Is ON!
Source: JOSHUA LOTT / Getty R. Kelly’s Alleged Stash Of Sex Tapes Wanted By Feds R. Kelly’s life is in a state of…transition. Between the criminal sex abuse charges and his inability to pay child support or bills, we think it’s pretty obvious that R. Kelly’s freedom will soon be penniless and imprisoned. Lord willin’. Just look at how hard the feds are going to make sure they nail Robert to the wall this time. According to TMZ , the badges are pressing the line of several people who are close to the singer in order to find out where his rumored stash of VHS tapes showing him having sex with young girls. The talk of these tapes first surfaced back when Robert was on trial back in 2008, but authorities were unable to locate them at the time. They hope to change that very, very soon. In addition, authorities are looking at other crimes that Robert may have committed. We’re told feds in Illinois are investigating Kelly on 3 different fronts: sex trafficking, tax evasion and obstruction of justice. If the sex abuse stuff doesn’t stick, maybe there’s a chance that these other charges will. Feds believe Kelly may have pressured and, or paid off witnesses during his 2008 trial. Long as he goes to prison for a long time we don’t really care about the legal semantics. Just get it done.
It’s fitting that Francis Ford Coppola and The Godfather are forever linked because Coppola himself turned out to be quite the Godfather of Hollywood…. read more
Source: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Valencia Love , the woman who famously paid R. Kelly ‘s bail, will not be questioned in the troubled singer’s unpaid rent case. Kelly is battling with his studio landlord over owed monies currently, along with his other mounting legal issues . The Blast reports : According to court documents obtained by The Blast, a Chicago judge recently dismissed Valencia Love from the lawsuit between Kelly and his former recording studio landlord. The landlord won a $173,000 judgment against Kelly over unpaid rent and has been trying to collect for several months. They fired off subpoenas to multiple banks where Kelly had accounts, Sony Music, and ASCAP (for his royalties). They were able to seize $154k from his Bank of America accounts plus $50k from Sony, which settled the debt. They also were informed by WinTrust Bank that Kelly was overdrawn and had negative $13 in his account. In newly filed docs in the case, it is revealed the landlord had also subpoenaed Love, in an effort to ask her if she was holding money for Kelly or had any of his assets. Love was quoted as saying the money she used to bail out the singer was his own, and the landlord suspected Kelly was hiding his assets among his legal team, who were also subpoenaed. The debt has since been settled. — Photo: Getty
Lusty lesbians invade cinemas this weekend, but since the new releases are New York and LA exclusives at the moment, we’ve got the best places to see the stars nude right here on Mr. Skin!… read more
Source: Photo: WENN.com Robert Kraft continues to live a very charmed life. Even with his name in the middle of scandal he is keeping good company. TMZ is reporting that the New England Patriots owner has is still shaking and moving out with some big names. Earlier this week the billionaire was seen chatting with both JAY-Z, Meek Mill and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin. The four moguls met for REFORM Alliance; an organization whose goal is to bring more common sense to the United States criminal justice system. Led by CNN’s Van Jones, the group discussed reform, policy, advancing employment opportunities and more. Rob’s attendance is especially interesting as he is currently fighting to keep video footage of him allegedly getting sexually serviced by a masseuse at the now infamous Orchids of Asia Spa in Florida. His legal team addressed the court in Palm Beach County stating “the requirements to curtail what can be captured must be scrutinized and high levels of responsibility must be met to avoid the intrusion on the activities of the innocent. These strict standards were simply not met in this case. There was no effort made to avoid capturing innocent activity behind the closed-door of a massage room. There is no other remedy but to suppress the evidence gathered.” Kraft has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution. He is due at court in late May. View this post on Instagram Spent the day working on our goal of getting 1 million people out of the system within 5 years, while keeping communities safe – LET’S DO THIS!!! #REFORM #fightdifferent A post shared by Michael Rubin (@michaelrubin) on May 1, 2019 at 5:53pm PDT Photo: WENN.com
Source: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Gabrielle Union , her husband Dwyane Wade and other celebs have donated to the family of Nigel Shelby , a 15-year-old who recently killed himself after being bullied for being gay. According to TMZ , sources told them that the couple along with Lena Waithe , Ludacris and Janelle Monae , helped donate to Shelby’s mother, Camika Shelby , who put her son to rest in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday (April 27). The family also raised over $40,000 from a separate GoFundMe campaign. View this post on Instagram Today I got the opportunity to celebrate the life of Nigel Shelby. . I pray that no other child will ever have to endure what this young baby dealt with. We gotta love on our own! Check on your friends and loved ones. You never know what someone is going through. #ripnigel A post shared by Pinky Cole (@pinky907) on Apr 27, 2019 at 12:09pm PDT Last month, Nigel sadly made headlines when he took his life after battling depression and being bullied for his sexual orientation by students at Huntsville High School. Apparently, Nigel came out two years ago. The Alabama teen’s mother told ABC News that her son was a “a vibrant, outgoing and fun-loving child who would do anything he could to make others smile.” “Nigel was a sweetheart. He loved everybody, he would help anybody. He was an angel,” Shelby said. “I just wish people could’ve seen how special he was while he was still here.” Camika also shared that her son was seeking counseling and was close to being medicated for his mental health issues. But he still struggled with the fact that he was gay. “I wish he could have been fully accepted while he was here because it was hard for him. He struggled,” she said. “He used to ask me sometimes ‘Mama, why couldn’t I just be normal?’ And I’m like, ‘Baby, you are normal. Who you choose to love has nothing to do with the person that you are.’” View this post on Instagram I would give anything for just one more hug A post shared by ~NigelShelby (@lovelynigel) on Apr 23, 2019 at 9:52pm PDT “I’m truly blessed that I got to spend 15 years with this child, but it also makes me so sad to know that he’s no longer with me. He was my motivation to keep going. He always kept me lifted up, so to not have that anymore is heartbreaking,” she said. Even with a loving and accepting parent, Nigel still took his life, which is why it’s so incredibly important that as a community we hold up and love our Black LGBT children. Every single last one of us. A2016 report released by the Center for American Progress found that Black LGBTQ folks experience higher rates of homelessness during youth than their peers; have higher rates of unemployment or underemployment; and face overall lower rates of pay and higher rates of poverty. Another report conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that nearly half of Black/African-American LGBTQ students felt unsafe due to their sexual orientation; over a third felt unsafe because of their gender expression and nearly 40 percent of Black/ African-American students were more likely to experience in-school discipline. So it’s clear that our children need us now more than ever. All Black lives matter. Rest in power Nigel. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. RELATED NEWS: At Memorial, Lauren London Pays Tribute To Nipsey: ‘He’s In All Of Us’ Tyler Perry Helps Children Whose Mother Was Recently Shot And Killed By Her Boyfriend Good Deeds! Tyler Perry Donates $430,000 To Two Atlanta Walmarts To Help Pay Off People’s Layaway Bills [ione_media_gallery src=”https://hellobeautiful.com” id=”3025639″ overlay=”true”]
Source: d3sign / Getty Houston Man Robbed & Killed Man After Meeting Him On Dating App A Houston man who was actually homophobic reportedly used a dating app to lure a victim he robbed and ultimately killed. Click2Houston reports that Devonte Garrison, 22, was taken into custody and charged with capital murder after deputies said he robbed, shot and killed a man on April, 19. That man, Adrienne Ward, 30, met up with Garrison after they chatted on the app “Tagged.” A tipster told police that Garrison who was on the app under the alias “Arzue” had bragged about the killing saying he “hated homosexuals and that he lured (Ward) to his apartment under the ruse of hooking up,” prosecutors told Click 2. Bunny said Garrison told her he robbed Ward of his cellphone while was inside The victim was robbed of his cellphone before he was shot in the chest by the suspect. Authorities transported him to a hospital where he later died. Please, please, PLEASE be careful on these apps folks!
